Category Archives: Uncategorized

Southern has the fifth-best football recruited class among Historically Black Colleges and Universities, according to a website that tracks recruiting.

FROM THE PRESS BOX TO PRESS ROW (Boxtorow.com) released its ninth annual recruiting rankings based on “research conducted that came from school releases, local newspaper articles and recruiting boards.”

Jaguars coach Dawson Odums completed his third recruiting class, which consists of 27 players, last week.

Boxtorow.com singled out several members of the class, which includes 14 players from Louisiana. The website mentioned two of the nine defensive linemen in the class – Rivals two-star defensive end Jahmal Tillman from Helen Cox in Harvey, La. and Christopher Jones from Franklin High School.

The Southern men’s basketball team has won its last four games, but it hasn’t been able to make any headway at the top of the Southwestern Athletic Conference standings.

That’s because neither Alabama State nor Texas Southern has lost a conference game yet. Both are 5-0 – Texas Southern has beaten Southern and Alabama State hosts the Jaguars on Monday to conclude a Southern road trip that begins Saturday at Alabama A&M.

The Jaguars, the defending SWAC champions, were picked second behind Alabama State in the preseason. They have played like a team capable of competing for the league title, but this could be an extremely competitive race that goes to the wire.

The difference between Texas Southern and Southern is the Tigers’ last-second, 59-58 victory in the F.G. Clark Activity Center on Jan. 5. These teams meet again in the regular-season finale March 7 in Houston and it wouldn’t be surprising if the conference race isn’t settled until that game is over.

Alabama A&M (3-2), Alcorn State (3-3) and Prairie View (2-3) are lurking behind the top three teams in the standings.

The Jaguars began the season knowing they had the talent, experience and depth in the backcourt to be competitive. But a lack of experience in the frontcourt called into question whether they would be ready to compete for the conference title.

Now that it has played 20 games, Southern seems to have developed its frontcourt to the point where it can make a run at another title.

Coach Roman Banks has tried different combinations, but seems to have settled on Frank Snow and Jared Sam as his starters. Both were key factors in home victories against Mississippi Valley State on Monday and Arkansas-Pine Bluff two days before that.

Keith Davis has provided another low-post scoring option off the bench and Joell Hopkins has emerged as another threat, both inside and out.

That foursome doesn’t have to score a large number of points for Southern to be successful because the team plays such good defense and gets lots of offense from its backcourt. But it does have to provide a consistently credible offensive threat so teams can’t abandon the paint and extend their defense against the guards.

That inside-outside balance seems to be developing. If teams have to be wary of the paint, then it’s going to be difficult to for them to contain the Jaguars backcourt.

Adrian Rodgers has been very effective from the perimeter and Trelun Banks and Tre Lynch, who has been the leading scorer despite not starting, are effective scorers both from the perimeter and by driving to the basket.

Christopher Hyder provides a steady hand at the wheel that doesn’t have to score to be a key player. Cameron Monroe and Mike Harrel have been solid on both ends of the court coming off the bench.

Neither Alabama State nor Texas Southern has provided an opening for other teams at the top of the standings. But if they do, the defending champions seem capable of taking advantage.

The Southern women’s basketball team seems to have righted the ship after a rough start to the Southwestern Athletic Conference season.

The Jaguars, who are the defending conference champions and preseason pick to repeat, lost two of their first three games, matching their loss total for the 18-game SWAC schedule last season.

But since then they have made significant improvement with decisive victories against Jackson State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Mississippi Valley State.

At 4-2 they are tied for second place with Alcorn State, a half-game behind Texas Southern (4-1), which beat the Jaguars at the F.G. Clark Activity Center on Jan. 5.

Southern has an important road trip coming up this weekend when it faces two of the three teams that are even with it in the loss column with 3-2 records. The Jaguars play at Alabama A&M on Saturday and at Alabama State on Monday. Prairie View, which lost to Southern in the conference opener, also is 3-2. The standings are tightly bunched as six teams have one or two losses.

The Jaguars’ three-game win streak has coincided with several key players showing improvement. Senior post player Jasmine Jefferson, a preseason all-SWAC player, played well below par until having had a breakout game against Jackson State. She has seemed like a different player during the win streak, thought she did miss most of the first half of a 70-57 victory against Valley on Monday because of foul trouble.

Freshman forward Briana Green says she’s feeling close to 100 percent as she nears the one-year anniversary of surgery to repair a torn ACL she suffered as a high-school senior in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., last season. She has become a solid complement to Jefferson inside and succeeded in an expanded role while Jefferson sat Monday.

Guard Britney Washington, like Jefferson, has shaken off a disappointing start to the season to play better of late. She was a very effective sixth man last season and has started and come off the bench this season. She seems more comfortable in both roles compared to the start of the season.

Senior Kendra Coleman has become the primary point guard, though she also plays in her customary spot at the shooting guard. Her move has brought more consistent ball handling and decision-making to the point, though Bonnie Scott has been solid defensively and has had good moments while playing fewer minutes at the point.

Post player Yasmine Nelson tore the meniscus in her knee in a loss at Grambling on Jan. 10 and didn’t play again until Monday. She played just three minutes and was clearly hobbled. The injury likely will restrict her playing time to specific match-ups where her limitations won’t be exposed.

Kenidi Robinson, a key inside player, is out indefinitely after having surgery to repair a broken bone in her chin. Coach Sandy Pugh said Robinson won’t return until March, if at all.

Despite the injuries in the frontcourt, the Jaguars have shown pretty good depth.

All in all, the Jaguars seem to be headed in the right direction but the road trip to Alabama will be the biggest challenge to date.